last weekend i went to the baby shower of my childhood friends. even though i am not a big fan of baby showers (or any all-women social gathering, really), i was REALLY excited because for the first time since i was pregnant with alice, i got to make something from my favorite book! and not just any something, the very best ever baby swaddler that was an absolute lifesaver when alice was a newborn.
and while i was making it i was reminded how absolutely wonderful this book is and just HAD to take a minute to tell you guys about how much i love it. you see, when i was pregnant with alice i spent a LOT of time in bookstores looking for sewing projects that were: 1. practical, i wasnt going to waste my time making anything that i wasnt going to actually use on a daily basis, 2. plain, i hate hate HATE foofy ruffly tacky "baby" looking things, and wanted projects that reflect my personal style, 3. unisex, because i didnt know alices gender before she was born, and 4. affordable, we didnt have any money for elaborate sewing projects, and i had TONS of super cute vintage fabrics, so i needed projects that didnt require tons of supplies.
obviously this set the bar really high, but this one book fit all four of my (generally socially unacceptable) criteria for baby projects.
the book is called simple sewing for baby by lotta jansdotter. you can find it on amazon here, or barnes & noble here for about $18 (i got mine at joanns with a coupon and it came out to around $13, but i dont know if they sill carry it) and it is worth every penny.
why? well first off lotta jansdotter is from sweden, and you know how the swedish are the best at designing everything? well every single project in this book is super simple, streamlined construction, perfect for showing off awesome fabric prints. shes also a mom in real life, so every project works up super quick (most take less than 2 hours start-to-finish) AND is actually practical for real life babies. with real life moms who dont want to walk around with teddy bears and ruffles on everything.
one of the best things about this book is that the projects cover a lot of different baby-type needs (clothes, toys, bedding, and travel accessories), so with just this one book, you can basically furnish an entire nursery.
i mean, i did. ive made almost every project in it, and they are all fantastic. the bloomers, nursing pillow (saved TONS of money by not having to buy a boppy), crib bumper, changing pad, and of course, the swaddlers. my only complaint is that some of the project instructions are a little vague, so i wouldnt recommend the book to a complete sewing novice, and she doesnt include very detailed sizing information for the clothing projects, but those are really small flaws when you consider how great the projects are.
so if you or anyone you know are about to have (or just had, most of these projects can easily be completed in a naptime, and this is coming from a mom with a terrible napper) a new baby and only want to by one sewing book, i would HIGHLY suggest this one.
because really, its the only baby sewing book ive ever bought, and ive used it TONS in the past two and a half years.
p.s. i did not receive any compensation for this post, i just wanted to talk about how much i like it, however, the shopping links are affiliate-linked and i do receive a portion of all purchases made through them.
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